Missouri defensive end Michael Sam. / Kevin Jairaj, USA TODAY Sports

by Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY Sports

by Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY Sports

It turns out that that neither Johnny Manziel nor Jadeveon Clowney will be the most scrutinized player in the upcoming NFL Draft.

Michael Sam is that guy.

What a courageous revelation by the Missouri defensive end, who has taken matters into his own hands and come out as gay.

Sam will also be the first openly gay player in the macho world of the NFL - which for decades has included homosexual players who kept their secret out of the public domain, or in some cases, at least until they retired.

Yet Sam - a first-team All-America selection whom ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay told USA TODAY Sports might have been college football's most dominant player during the first half of his breakout season in 2013 - has essentially freed himself of some enormous internal pressure.

His bold move, less than two weeks before Sam will be timed, tested, examined and interviewed along with about 200 other prospects by teams at the NFL combine, may have raised his draft stock in some eyes because of his courage.

Maybe to some homophobics, Sam's stock has suddenly plummeted.

Here's to hoping that his stock remains what it would have been without the breaking news. Sam came out in interviews with ESPN and The New York Times.

"He's a good player, and he's a pass-rusher," former NFL general manager Bill Polian told USA TODAY Sports. "Those kinds of players are in short supply."

While this is a bombshell news event that makes the Manti Teo catfishing saga surrounding last year's draft now appear as something in a small pond, comparatively, it hardly catches NFL teams by surprise.

You know how those NFL sleuths operate. They know stuff. Like where a guy had dinner last night.

An NFL general manager speaking on condition of anonymity for competitive reasons texted me on Sunday night about Sam coming out: "Old news."

Maybe it's dated intel to NFL teams, but to NFL culture and society, Sam is a game-changer.

"I hope he'll be evaluated as a football player," McShay said.

McShay projects Sam as a third- to fifth-round prospect. He regards him as a "tweener" whose size (6-1, 260) puts him between the prototype size for a defensive end and an outside linebacker. The numbers that really scream, though, are the 11½ sacks and 19 tackles-for-loss that he had in 2013.

As a player last season, McShay added, "He really came into his own."

Now Sam has come into his own in another regard.

And it transcends football.

We know what's coming. Sam is about to hop on the biggest stage in sports.

The league that has emphasized tolerance for gay rights through NFL policy still had a San Francisco 49ers player say during Super Bowl week last year that he wouldn't want to play with a gay teammate and has a current investigation involving a former Minnesota Vikings punter alleging discrimination based on the player's stand for gay rights.

"It will be a test because society and the media will make it so," Polian said. "Everybody will be asked their opinion, whether anyone likes it or not."

Polian sounded just like the old friend, a clinical psychologist, who I was on the phone with on Sunday night when I heard of the story. Both mentioned their belief that the younger people in this generation have grown up in a world that is more tolerant than their predecessors.

That will surely be put to the test in the NFL. The team that drafts Sam must weigh how he will fit into the locker room - in addition to its 4-3 or 3-4 scheme - and how they will handle the news media crush.

"Acceptance by other players is the least of your worries," Polian said. "Players will respect anybody who they think can help them win."

It is the social situation that Polian wonders most about.

"How do you handle a major media event that transcends the sports media?" Polian said. "An NFL PR department is not equipped to handle this type of story."

There are many resources within the NFL network to draw on. From player support programs to psychologists to media strategy experts at the league level.

The NFL team that selects Sam will have to tap on all of that - and then some.

Already, we know that if Sam winds up as a draft-day steal, it won't be just about 40-yard times and 225-pound bench press reps.